AWB releases Legislative Review 2008: Honeyford and Parlette earn highest ratings
Last week, AWB released its annual Legislative Review 2008 and Legislative Report Card, examining the 2008 session and grading lawmakers on their performance. Besides listing how legislators voted on issues most affecting business, individual legislators receive a percentage score reflecting how well they agree on issues important to Washington’s business community. The highest-rated senators were Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, and Sen. Linda Parlette, R-Wenatchee, both at 100 percent. The House of Representatives’ top scorers were Rep. Larry Crouse, R-Spokane, Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, and Rep. Lynn Schindler, R-Spokane, al at 96 percent. “Anyone doing business in Washington needs to look at this voting record and the percentage scores,” said AWB President Don Brunell. “There’s no better indicator of how business-friendly an individual legislator might be.” The Legislative Report Card is online at www.awb.org and is distributed with the current issue of Washington Business magazine. The publication is also a good preview of what businesses might expect in the 2009 session.

Florida passes no frills basic health coverage free of mandates
Florida’s legislature just approved a “no frills” health care plan free of the state’s 50 mandates. The new plan will cost $150 a month or less. The plan, which goes into effect next year, provides for primary care and catastrophic coverage for major illnesses. About 21 percent of Florida’s population is uninsured — some 3.8 million people. According to Gov. Charlie Crist, the mandate-heavy plans are just too expensive. Crist says government makes rules without regard to how much they cost and who will bear the burden. Lower- and middle-income workers who already have more limited insurance coverage as part of their compensation are the ones who disproportionately carry the cost, he says. Most small businesses that struggle to provide health care insurance coverage for their employees experience the very same problem as they deal with annual insurance premium increases. While similar legislation died in Washington, 13 states currently offer bare-bones policies. They work, and we should have them in Washington.

AWB urges members to join in health care reform discussions
Are you concerned by the direction that health care reform is taking in Washington? Do you dread increased and prohibitive business taxes for government-run health care programs? Would you like to influence and learn more about our state’s recent health care reform proposals? If so, please attend one of the upcoming community discussions hosted by the Healthy Washington Coalition beginning next month. The coalition was largely responsible for passage of SB 6333, legislation that requires an in-depth analysis of four identified health care reform proposals, including three government-administered systems that would institute new employer-paid taxes on all Washington business owners. The first discussion is on June 19 in Seattle, and the rest will proceed as follows: Tacoma on July 1, Yakima on July 15, Spokane on July 29, Bellevue on Aug. 12, Everett on Sept. 9, and Vancouver on Sept. 13. For more information, please contact AWB’s Donna Steward at (360) 943-1600 or DonnaS@awb.org.

WEA kills national math and science grant for Washington’s students and teachers
The Washington Education Association has a strange way of caring for our kids. Recently, this powerful teacher’s union tubed a $13.2-million National Math and Science Institute grant that would reward students and teachers for passing advanced placement tests in math and science and would help teachers teach those two subjects. It was a gift to seven states, including Washington, but only our state turned it down. Even heavily unionized states like Connecticut and Massachusetts accepted this great opportunity. The Wall Street Journal said, “They [the WEA] were willing to turn away free money for their teacher members rather than abide this kind of merit pay … and while the Washington union is spurning millions of dollars in grant money, it’s also suing the state for the alleged inadequate funding of public schools. Hmmm. Could it be that union chiefs care more about protecting their monopoly than what students are learning?” For more information, see Olympia Business Watch.

Children’s Safe Products Act Advisory Committee gets underway
The first meeting of the Children’s Safe Products Act Advisory Committee will be held June 3 in Tacoma. The governor formed this advisory committee to fix a number of unintended consequences of HB 2647 — legislation rushed through the Legislature last session dealing with children’s toys and other products. Unfortunately, the bill not only banned many safe products, it also inadvertently banned many child safety seats, educational products and games that rely on electronic circuitry deemed unsafe by the act. The advisory committee will develop expedited rules and legislation for 2009 to address these and other defects in the law. For more information, contact AWB’s Grant Nelson at GrantN@awb.org or (360) 943-1600.

Summer camp teaches high school students about business — AWB members save $50
Since 1976, when AWB created the Washington Business Week program, more than 47,000 students have completed the Business Week summer experience on a college campus. Students immerse themselves in business, free enterprise, real-life skills, teamwork and more to prepare them to enter the real world. Two college credits are available. Students can choose a path in business, health care, construction or accounting. There is still space for this summer, but hurry! Check www.wbw.org for more info or call (253) 815-6900. Visit www.awb.org for a special $50-off application for the children of AWB members and their employees.

HR Essentials briefings on new 2008 legislation
Don’t miss HR Essentials, where you’ll learn about the latest laws and regulations on employment, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance. The briefings will be held in Yakima (June 4), Tri-Cities (June 4), Spokane (June 5) and Moses Lake (June 5). The cost to attend is $40 per person. This provides 2.5 (general) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR through the Human Resource Certification Institute. For more information or to register, click here or contact AWB’s Connie Grande at ConnieGr@awb.org or (360) 943-1600.

Managing Leaves of Absence Seminar: June 25 at the Seattle Airport Marriott
The Family and Medical Leave Act presents more compliance headaches than almost any other law affecting the workplace. It remains an extremely difficult and frustrating law for employers to administer, and it creates several traps that can lead to employer liability. Much is changing in the law: the Department of Labor is considering revisions to the FMLA while the Washington Legislature has passed several new leave laws in recent sessions. This seminar will cover these state and federal leave requirements, as well as the interplay of these laws with your company’s own leave plans and policies. We’ll sort through the confusion and ambiguity and help you identify what you must do now, what may not be required just yet but you still should do, and what is likely to change in the future. To register, please contact AWB’s Jennifer Costello at (360) 943-1600 or JenniferC@awb.org, or click here to view the full agenda and register online.

Forklift safety: ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop: June 4, Bellevue
This seminar will teach experienced forklift operators how to conduct proper safety training for their employees. Upon completion, attendees will also receive a CD-ROM with a PowerPoint slide show and a PDF manual they can reproduce to use in training their own employees. Click here to register online, or contact Jennifer Costello at JenniferC@awb.org or (360) 943-1600.

Annual Washington Policy Center’s Center for Transportation event
The Center for Transportation researches and analyzes the best practices for relieving traffic congestion, while focusing on reducing structural barriers that drive up costs, linking congestion relief with spending, improving accountability and transparency with the Department of Transportation and other local, state and federal transportation agencies. On Tuesday, June 17, the center, along with AWB, are hosting their Annual Transportation Event at the Harbor Club in downtown Seattle from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Dr. Ron Utt from The Heritage Foundation will discuss traffic congestion issues as the event’s breakfast keynote speaker. Admission is $25 per person and is sure to sell out quickly, so please enroll as soon as possible. For more information, please check out the center’s event page here.

Be an AWB Policy Summit Sponsor
AWB’s Policy Summit will be held Sept. 24-26 at Semiahmoo Resort. As a sponsor, your company receives acknowledgement before, during and following the event in marketing materials, signage and in AWB’s magazine, Washington Business. Display opportunities are also available. Contact AWB’s Jennifer Davis at JenniferD@awb.org or click here for more information.

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